


you have a beautiful voice

by Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, childish will, he's a very giggly one though, solangelo, will is a merman, yes you heard me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3392414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire/pseuds/Bad_boy_supreme_on_fire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Can you sing it to me? Like, sing it for real, not just the melody”. If anyone else had asked, he would have turned down a request like that immediately, but Nico hesitated. Why did he hesitate? He didn’t know this boy at all, but there was something about him Nico found… he couldn’t find a word for it, but his presence simply felt nice. He liked the giggly merman. </p><p>in which Will is a merman who thinks Nico is hella cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> when I picture Will as a merman, he's very childish and giggly in my head, so...  
> anyone seen the hobbit?  
> also, please read the note in the end, cuz I'm asking you guys a question  
> enjoy :3

Nico was sitting on a rock by the beach, looking over the still water in the sunlight.

He came here quite often, as he didn’t have many other places to go or much else to do. He had left his shoes behind on the sand, and he was dipping his bare feet in the water. The sun was pleasantly warm on his skin, and as he sat there by himself, he started humming a tune his sister had taught him.

Suddenly, he caught a movement in the corner of his eye and was startled to see a boy leaning on a rock a bit further out in the sea, staring at him. The boy’s body was hidden behind it except for his arms and shoulders, which were beautifully tanned. The same applied for his face, and his hair was curly and blond.His face had an almost childish expression and intense, yet mild, blue eyes.

When he locked eyes with Nico, his face broke into a grin. He disappeared behind the rock only to reappear from the water in front of Nico a few seconds later. Now, he could see the golden scales on the boy’s tail, and realized he was a merman.

The creature lifted himself halfway up above the water right in front of Nico, supporting his weight on his arms.

“Hi”, he said with a grin. “I’m Will”.

There was a moment when Nico could not seem to find his voice. He had heard stories about the merpeople living here, but he had never seen one. He could not even imagine himself ever talking to one. He sat like frozen for a moment before he gathered himself.

“Er, hi. I’m, uh, Nico”.

“Hi Nico”, Will said, his grin widening.

Nico had no idea how to respond to this unusually happy half-human. Then the boy said something that made the situation even weirder.

“You have a beautiful voice”.

Nico felt himself blush furiously at the comment, and Will let out a small giggle. Yes, he giggled. Nico managed to mutter something that was hopefully a thank you. He never sang in front of other people, but he did like doing so by himself.

“What was the song?” Will asked with childish curiosity in his eyes.

“Uh, something my sister taught me. I don’t know what it’s called”.

“Can you sing it to me? Like, sing it for real, not just the melody”.

If anyone else had asked, he would have turned down a request like that immediately, but Nico hesitated. Why did he hesitate? He didn’t know this boy at all, but there was something about him Nico found… he couldn’t find a word for it, but his presence simply felt nice.

He liked the giggly merman.

“I, uh…”

“ _Please_?” Will pleaded.

He was still supporting all of his weight on his arms and was almost uncomfortably close to Nico’s face. The blush still wouldn’t leave him.

“Okay”, Nico decided.

Will seemed even happier than before, and crossed his arms on the stone surface next to Nico, resting his chin on his hands. He looked up at him through his lashes, the smile never leaving his face and his fish-like tail making regular slow movements in the water beneath them.

Nico cleared his throat and started singing the song his sister has taught him.

“ _Far over, the Misty Mountains cold_ ”.

He sang it in a slightly higher tone than it originally was, as he couldn’t manage the lowest ones.

“ _To dungeons deep, and caverns old_ ”.

Will had closed his eyes next to him, and his tail was moving to the slow rhythm of the song.

“ _We must away, the break of day, to find a long, forgotten gold_ ”.

He kept singing, glad that Will had closed his eyes, because he hated when people were looking at him if it was not in a conversation. Not that he usually enjoyed conversations in particular either.

He stopped when he was finished, and looked down at Will. He started wondering if the boy was asleep, but he opened his eyes when Nico didn’t continue the song.

“Is it finished?” he asked.

“Yes”.

“It was beautiful. Where are the Misty Mountains?”

“I don’t know. My mother says it lies half a world away, far to the North. She told me a tale that belongs to the song, too”.

“Can you tell it to me?”

“I don’t know… it’s kind of long, and I need to get back home soon”.

The smile on Will’s face disappeared for the first time since Nico saw him.

“Oh”.

It quickly reappeared, though.

“Will you come back tomorrow? You can tell it to me then!”

He looked so hopeful Nico couldn’t find it in himself to say no, even if he had wanted to.

“Sure. I’ll be here by noon”.

Will grinned like an idiot and slid back down in the water until only his head was above the surface when Nico stood up. He went to fetch his shoes and turned around when he was about to leave. He waved shyly back at Will, and the boy did a backwards jump in the air worthy of a dolphin before disappearing beneath the surface of the still water.

***

At noon the next day, Nico arrived on his rock by the sea. There was no sign of Will yet, so Nico sat down to wait for him.

He didn’t know if you could tell very well when it was noon down under the sea. He didn’t know much about the merpeople.

After maybe twenty minutes, there was a disturbance in the water surface, and Will’s smiling face appeared.

“Am I late?” he asked.

“Just a bit”.

“Sorry. It’s hard to tell where the sun is when you’re under water”. He smiled an apologizing smile.

“It’s okay”.

Will was in front of him again, and this time he supported his crossed arms on Nico’s knees.

“Where did the fire in the song come from?”

Nico thought back to the song lyrics from the day before.

“It was a dragon”, he said.

“What’s a dragon?”

“You don’t know?” Nico asked in surprise, and Will shook his head.

“A dragon is a huge, fire breathing animal with wings as big as houses and scales as hard as iron. They’re very rare, but almost impossible to kill”.

Will looked at him in awe.

“Tell me the story”, he demanded, but in a gentle voice.

Nico did.

He told him about a Hobbit who joined thirteen dwarfs in an adventure to claim an old kingdom once taken by the dragon Smaug. He told him how the dragon was killed, but how it all ended in an epic battle between five different armies.

He had to explain many words in the beginning, as Will didn’t know everything about the world above the sea. The boy closed his eyes when Nico spoke, and sometimes, Nico thought he was asleep.

When he then stopped, Will would peek his eyes open again and ask him to continue. This made Nico smile a little for some reason, and he continued the story, either looking at the horizon or studying Will’s face.

He liked the last option best, but he always blushed like crazy even though he knew Will couldn’t see him looking.

Will lifted his head and looked up at him when he was finished.

“Did they destroy him?” he asked.

“Destroy who?”

“That evil guy. The, uh, Necromancer?”

“I believe so. I _hope_ so, at least if it’s true”, Nico answered, not knowing anything further than what he had told Will.

“You don’t know if it’s true?”

“No, I’m not sure. But I think it is”.

Will rested his head on his own arms again.

“You’re good at telling stories”, he said.

“Thanks”.

Nico felt something move in his stomach from the comment, and it was not because he was nauseous.

Will must have caught sight of something interesting, because he suddenly grabbed Nico’s left hand and examined it. He was looking at his silver skull ring.

“What’s that?” he asked curiously.

“It’s a ring”.

“It’s pretty”.

“Thanks. My sister gave it to me before....” he trailed off when he thought about Bianca. Will looked up from his hand.

“Before what?”

“Before she died”.

Nico could hear his voice crack when he spoke the last word. Concern replaced Will’s happy expression.

“Are you okay? I shouldn’t have asked”.

“I’m fine. It was a long time ago”.

Nico didn’t bury himself in grief and despair anymore because of his sister’s death, but it was still a sore topic. He pushed it away and asked Will a question instead.

“I don’t know anything about your world, though. Like, where do you live?”

The worry disappeared from Will’s face once again.

“I live in Poseidon’s palace! I’m the best healer, so that’s why I stay there”, he said excitedly.

“Poseidon’s palace? You mean the Poseidon?” Nico asked in awe.

When he thought about it, he knew the sea god had merpeople living in his palace, but it didn’t occur to him that Will could be one of them. The boy nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m about the only merman who’s a son of Apollo, so Poseidon wanted me as a healer”.

“How can a merman be a son of Apollo?”

“Because my mom is a mermaid and Apollo fell in love with her. So I’m a descendant of Poseidon and a son of Apollo”, Will grinned.

“Wow”. Nico had to smile due to Will’s stupid happiness. “That’s pretty cool”.

How could anyone be so childishly happy all the time? It was a mystery to Nico, but he liked it. He thought it suited Will.

 

“Will you be back tomorrow?” Will asked when Nico announced he had to go.

“Of course”. He smiled at Will, who practically beamed back. “Same time”.

***

They met every day on the same spot at the same time, and Will was now usually waiting for Nico when he arrived.

They usually sat in the same position too; Nico sitting on the rock and Will supporting his crossed arms on Nico’s knees, chin on his own hands.

Will quickly became Nico’s best friend, as he didn’t really have any others. He was always in a happy, childish and giggly mood, which Nico adored more than he wanted to admit.

“Can you sing me another song before you leave?” Will asked, looking innocently up at Nico through blond curls.

“I guess… like what?”

“There was one you sang a few weeks ago. I think it was about a drum and something that was gone. I didn’t quite hear it”.

Nico blinked.

“Have you been watching me for weeks?”

He had only met Will six days ago.

“Yes”.

“Why?”

Will shrugged and smiled.

“Because I thought you were cute and had a beautiful voice”, he stated.

Nico felt his face grow red again.

“Uh, okay. I think I know what song you mean”.

He started singing, and once again, Will closed his eyes, head resting on his arms, tail swinging lazily to the rhythm. Once again, too, he looked up at Nico when he finished.

“I like that one. It’s so pretty”.

Nico nodded in agreement.

“I need to leave. I think they’re looking for me”.

Will nodded, but instead of releasing Nico’s knees, he placed one hand on each of them and lifted himself up to press his lips against Nico’s.

That was unexpected, and Nico didn’t have time to react, because it only lasted a second. Will slid back into the water, grinning.

“See you tomorrow”.

Then he was gone, and Nico just sat there, paralyzed by the sudden kiss and a delightful feeling rushing through his body.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the comments and suggestions! I settled for this, hope you like it:3

To make sure he was there before Nico arrived, Will always swam to the surface in good time before noon, as it was not easy to tell when exactly that was. The clocks the humans had didn’t work very well under water, and Poseidon didn’t care to invest in some water-proof ones as time was not that important in his underwater-palace.

Once again, Will arrived before Nico and settled next to their usual rock, anxiously waiting for the human boy to show up. He was beginning to worry if the move he had made yesterday had scared Nico off.

He hoped not.

Will was so fascinated with him, he felt like he almost _needed_ his presence. With his shiny black hair, pale olive skin and big brown eyes, the boy looked like an angel to Will, and he most certainly had the voice of one.

When he told stories, Will closed his eyes, because Nico made it all so real and alive, Will had never experienced anything like it.

Will envied the humans for having such a wonderful creature being part of their world all the time, while Will only borrowed him a few hours a day.

With great relief, Will finally saw Nico emerge from the shadows of the trees and head for the water. He felt a wide grin spread across his face, just like it did every time Nico arrived. It was not uncommon for Will to be happy and giggly, but when he was around Nico, this side of him went crazy.

Whatever Nico did or said made him smile wider than usual, and when Nico blushed… the reaction was so cute and funny, Will could not restrain a childish laugh.

After discarding his shoes on the sand, Nico walked through the water and climbed the rock were Will was waiting. He sat down with his feet in the water, and Will swam around to get in front of him. He supported himself on Nico’s knees once again, and grinned up at him.

“Hi”, he said. “You came back”.

“Of course I did, Will”, Nico replied, a shy smile on his lips.

“So I didn’t do anything wrong?”

This made Nico’s cheeks grow a faint pink, a reaction that still made Will giddy with amusement.

“No, you didn’t”.

“Good”, Will said, satisfied.

He readjusted himself a little on Nico’s legs.

“I wanna hear the story of the scars on your back”.

He looked hopefully up at Nico, who blinked in confusion.

“Wha… How do you know I have scars on my back?” he demanded.

“You were sitting here with your shirt off once when it was really hot and I saw them”, Will stated matter-of-factly. He had already explained to the boy that he had been observing him for weeks.

“Oh”.

Nico blushed furiously, and Will smiled wider.

“Please, tell me the story”.

“Er, fine. But I don’t know how much of a story it is”, Nico mumbled.

“One doesn’t get scars like that without getting a story with it. I wanna hear”.

Will was still smiling innocently at him, and Nico sighed. When he started speaking, Will closed his eyes while listening to Nico’s angelic voice telling the story.

It was a tale about a boy, a child, much younger than Nico, who lived with his mother and sister. It was a tale about a broken promise, about danger, about angry gods. It was a tale about love and loss, about survival and death.

“They took my mother away from me, and they almost took me and my sister, too”.

Nico’s eyes were distant as he spoke, looking back in time.

“The gods gave me the scars”.

He went silent, and Will asked if he was finished. He nodded.

“Thank you”, Will said.

“For what?”

“For telling me the story. It takes courage to tell stories like that, I appreciate it”.

He held on to Nico’s gaze.

“Can I see? The scars, I mean”.

“You have already seen them”. Nico sounded reluctant.

“I want to see them closer. Please?”

He studied Will’s face for a few seconds, then turned around and pulled the shirt over his head. A network of pink lines on pale olive skin was revealed, and Will was astonished over the unexpected beauty of the scars.

There was no poetic order in the lines or anything like that, but they were nonetheless beautiful. Will reached out to touch them, and felt Nico’s cold skin beneath his fingers.

“It’s beautiful”.

Nico turned to look at him over his shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that your scars are beautiful. I don’t know why, but they are”.

Nico turned his head back, but Will could see the tips of his ears go red. He giggled. He didn’t understand why Nico was blushing so much, but it was cute. He leaned over Nico’s shoulder.

“Are you blushing?” he asked with a grin.

“No”.

He attempted to turn his head away, but Will just moved to his other shoulder. He didn’t get why he was trying to hide one of the most adorable things about himself.

“Yes you are. Is it a human thing to blush when you get compliments?”

“I, uh… don’t know. Don’t merpeople blush?”

Will giggled.

“Not usually. At least not as much as you”.

This caused Nico to blush even more, and Will’s heart was fluttering with joy. He swam to the other side of the rock to be face to face with Nico again. Then, he raised himself up on his arms until he was inches away from the other boy’s face. He quickly placed a kiss on his cheek, and Nico immediately turned red again. Will laughed at the reaction, which caused Nico to hide his face in his hands and half-heartedly push him away.

“I’m sorry, but you’re too cute when you blush like that”, Will said.

Nico was obviously embarrassed, but Will was only a little bit sorry. He gently grabbed the wrist of one of the hands Nico was hiding behind to turn his face towards Will. Nico let his hands fall, and Will grabbed the opportunity to kiss his lips – this time staying longer.

It was a shy and trying kiss, but it was also sweet and delicate, and Will loved it.

“I like you”, he said when they broke apart, his tail making little exited waves in the water beneath them. Nico was smiling shyly, but nonetheless smiling.

“I like you, too”, he whispered, and it made Will grin and his tail flip even faster.

“What do humans do when they find out they like each other?” Will asked, still close to Nico’s face.

“Uh, I don’t know… kiss?”

“They don’t do this?”

He leaned in again and licked the tip of Nico’s nose once. The boy retreated in a fit of giggles, which also made Will giggle.

“N-no!” Nico said, still laughing. “Do you really do that?”

“Yes”.

“That’s stupid. Why?”

Will shrugged.

“Why do people kiss or hold hands? I don’t know”.

To his pleasant surprise, Nico leaned in and licked Will’s nose, too.

“Like that?” he asked when he pulled back again.

“Exactly”.

Nico’s eyes darted to a place behind Will for a second.

“You’re wagging your tail like a dog, Will”.

Will suddenly became aware that he was – in fact – doing exactly that, creating a lot of bubbles in the surface of the water in the meantime. He smiled sheepishly at Nico while calming down his own tail.

“Sorry”.

Nico just laughed at him, forcing him to concentrate not to start flipping his tail again.

 

The sky was taking on a comfortable shade of orange before Nico had to leave. Will released his knees, but Nico hesitated to get up.

“Will?”

“Yes?”

“I just…” He paused, maybe looking for the right words. “How are we going to work? I mean, if we do become something, how is it going to work out? We don’t even live in the same element”.

Will caught track of his thoughts and smiled reassuringly at him.

“We’ll make it work. Somehow. I know we will”.

He took Nico’s hand and squeezed it, which earned him a smile back.

“Okay. Bye, Will”.

Nico got up and walked back through the water.

“Bye, Nico”.

Will watched as he disappeared in the shadows of the trees again, before diving back in the water himself, the smile never leaving his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was it okay? I didn't wanna make it too long, now you can all use your wonderful imagination...^^


End file.
